Snare-drum.



P'ATENTED MAR. 29, 1904.

No. 755,61'0L' H. A BOWER. SNARE DRUM.

APPLIUATIO N FILED 24, 1903.

2 SEEETB-SHBET 1.

.110 MODEL.

a e/"Zia??- N0. 755,610. PATENTED MAR. 29, 1904.

' H. A. BOWER. SNARE DRUM.

APPLIUATION FILED OUT. 24, 1903.

H0 J'J'EQDEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z tineran dramas Patented March 29, 1904.

ENARE DRUM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 755,610, dated March 29,1904.

Application filed October 24, 1903.

To all 107120777 it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HARRY A; Bowen, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of hlassachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Snare Drums, of which the following is a specification;

This invention has relation to drums, and has for its object to providemeans for holding the snares on the drum-head in such manner. that thesaid snares may be accurately adjusted, first, as to their pressure uponthe head, and, second, as to their tension, so that the pressure may beincreased or decreased independently of'the tension am; the tension maybe increased or decreased independently of the adjustment of the snarestoward and from the head.

Heretofore it has been the custom to cut away the upper edge of theshell of the drum at diametrically opposite points to form a bed (socalled) for the snares, and thereby bring the snares as .closely aspossible to the center of the head and also to adjust the snares towardand from the center by varying their tension. This formation of the beddestroys the sensitiveness of the head at its center. Again, in priorconstructions it has been generally customary, in addition to theformation of the bed, to engage the snares between the strain-hoops andthe end of the shell and the skin-hoop; It has been, however,exceedingly difficult to keep the drum in pitch and to adjust the snareswith relation to the center of the head and yet keep them in properpitch. Hence another object of the invention is to providesnare-supporting devices which may be bedded directly against a yieldingportion of the head, inward from the shell, with adjusting means bywhich the devices may be adjusted toward and from the head, therebypermitting the employment of a shell having an unbroken upper edge overwhich the head may be stretched to render it sensitive to the slightestvibration.

Still another object of the inventionis to i provide means whereby thesnare -supporting and stretching members may be themselves supportedupon the strain-hoops, so as to ob-- viate the necessity of passing thesnares be-' Serial No. 178,314. (No model.)

tween the strain-hoop and the shell, as has 5 been almost universallythe custom followed by manufacturers of drums, except in some instances,where it has been proposed to pass the snares through holes in thehoops.

A still further object of the invention is to the snares and the head.In carrying out this last-named object there is a still further objectin viewto wit, to provide for mufiling the drum by a device located onthe exterior of the barrel, where it is convenient of access.

The manner in which I attain the objects 5 of the invention ishereinafter fully set forth,

there being illustrated upon the drawings a drum equipped with oneembodiment of my invention.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a 7 part of thisspecification,-Figure 1 represents an end view showing the lower end orhead of a drum provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 represents asection on line 2 2 of Fig.

1. Fig. 3 represents a view similar toFig. 2, 7 5

showing the drum muffled. Figs. 4 and 5 represent enlargementsof-portions of Fig. 2. Figs. 6 and 7 represent enlargements of portionsof Fig. 1. Figs. 8 and 9 represent side elevations of portions of theexterior of the drum. Fig. 10 represents a section on line 1O 10 of Fig.4: looking toward the; right.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

' Inpthe drawings, a represents the'shell of a 5 snare-drum. v

6 represents the lower head, and 0 c rep'resent the snares. l V

d represents the external ringmrhoop, be

tween the inner surface of whichandthe'shell 9 athe marginal portion ofthe head bis clamped, said marginal portion being further secured by thecooperation with the shell and the hoop d of the usual skin-hoop e. Theshell,

and the strain-hoops constitute the barrel of the drum. In carrying outmy invention I provide two snare-holding members fand g, which are 10-cated outside the head Z) and-within the circle of the hoop a. Saidmembers are adapted to engage and support the ends of the snares and aresupported from the hoop d by suitable connections between the saidmembers and hoop. In the present embodiment of my insaid parts beingconnected by screws 5 5.

The arm it is provided with a bearing-screw Z? and the arm i with, abearing-screw 5, said screws being adjustable and serving to swing thearms on their pivots, and thus move the members f and g slightly to ardor from the drumhead I), thus varying the pressure of the snares on thehead. The screw 7t bears on the hoop-d or on the shank of one of thebrackets j. The screw 1 bears on a movable abutment on, which is pivotedat m and is provided witha handle or, whereby the abutment on. maybedisplaced to permit the arm 11 to be swung by the tension of the snaresto the position shown in Fig. 3. The snares are thus removed fromoperative contact with the drumhead, and the drum is therefore muflied.Vthen the abutment m is returned to the position shown in 2 and 5, itcauses the res toration of the snares to their operative position.

Means are employed for varying the distance between the members f and qin a direction substantially parallel with the plane of the head, andthus varying the tension of the snares. tion this variation is permittedby hinging the member f to the arm it at f and providing the arm with anadjusting-screw 0, which bears against the member f. The screw 0 isarranged so that the tension of the snares holds the memberf against it.Hence by adjusting the screw the member fmay be swung toward or from themember g, thus decreasing or increasing the tension of the snares.

Heretofore the ends of the snares have been clamped and frictionallyheld between the it is difficult to adjust, remove, andreplacc snaresthus fastened and also to keep them properly tensioned. Myimprovementprovides for the positive engagement and holdingof the snares at pointsoutside the head and in such man.- ner that the various adjustmentsabove described can be readily ell'ected. By reason of the saidadjustment the tension of the snares may be increased or decreasedindependently In this embodiment of my invcnr of the adjustment of saidsnares toward and from the head.

Among the most important of said advantages is the following: The hoop dhas to be adjusted edgewise inwardly on the shell afrom time to time totake up the slack of the head asthe latter stretches. The pivotalconnection of the arms h and e' to the hoop and the adjusting-screws Zcooperating, as described, with the arms enables the snare engaging andstretching members to be adjusted outwardly to compensate for the inwardadjustment of the hoop, so that the operative relation of the snares tothe head may be preserved regardless of the extent of inward adjustmentof the hoop. The life and durability of the drum is thereforepractically everlasting. Heretofore the life of a snare-drum dependedupon the inward adjustment of the strain-hoops, and if the drumhead wasof a texture adapted to be easily stretched the strain-hoop would sooncome in contact with and crush the ends of the snares between it and theshell, thus making it necessary to take the drum apart to soak the head,to tuckthe latter on the skin-hoop,

and then to put the drum together. After this operation ittakcs about amonth, usually, to get the drum into good condition. After a drum hasbeen used for some time, the heads well knit together, and the stretchremoved therefrom, it should sound its best, and consequently with myinvention the drum may remain in excellent conditren so long as theheads last, since the adjustment of the heads to increase their tensioncannot injure the snares, and, again, according to my invention thesnares may be removed and others inserted in their stead without varyingthe tension upon or removing the head.

Still another feature of advantage of my device arises from the factthat the snare-supporting members are located radially inward from andwithin the shell, so that the ends of the snares are bedded against thehead. By reason of this construction the middle po1 tions of the snares,after having been brought to proper pitch, may be adjusted toward andfrom the head, so that their middle portions,

which are the most sensitive, maybe caused to hug and remain in contactwith the head,

at the center thereof. This adjustment of the snares, so as to bringtheir middle portions in contact with the center of the head, causes thesnares to respond to the slightest or greatest vibration of the upperhead without spoiling the tone of the drum. In drums where the snare-bedis provided by e utting away the edge of the shell it required muchskill and experienccto produce even a partially satisfactory toneeffect. The shape of the snare-bed regulated the sensitiveness of thesnares. and it has been practically impossible to out a snare-bed sothat the snares will operate perfectly at all times with all kinds ofsoft and loud manipulations characteristic to a snare-drum, whereas "adrum equipped with my invention be them from impinging upon the headwhen the latter vibrates, although, oi course, it is possible to loosenthe snares so as to decrease their tension--a proceeding which isimpracticable. In my drum, on the contrary, a movement of the leverinstantly throws the snares away from the head without destroying theiradjustment as to tension when the snares are again brought in contactwith the head. This provides for a perfect muliling of the drum,

since the snares leave the entire drumhead simultaneously. A simplemanipulation of the lever throws the snares in tooperative position.

I claim 1. A drum havingsn ares stretched across the head andsnare-engaging members located outside the head and connected with theexternal hoop of the drum. p 2. A drum Having snares stretched acrossthe head thereof, snare-supporting members located outside of the headand connected to the hoop, and means for adjusting said members to varythe tension of said snares.

3. A drum having snares stretch ed across the head there f and snaresupporting and stretching members supported on the exterior or the drumand bedded against yielding portions oi points radially inward from theshell.

4. A drum having snares stretched across and outside of the head, snaresupporting members located within the circle oi the strainhoop andoutside of the head, and means for moving one of said members toward andfrom the others.

5. A drum havingsnares stretched across the head, snare-supportingmembers located within the circle of the strain-hoop, and arms pivotedon the exterior of the said hoop and arched over the end thereof tosupport said members.

6. A. drum having snares stretched across the head, snare-supportingmembers loeated within the circle of the strain-hoop, arms pivoted onthe exterior of'the said hoop and arched over the end'thereof to supportsaid members, and means for adjusting one of said arms about its pivot.4 r 7. A drum having snares stretched across the head,snare-supportingmembcrs'located within the circle of the strain-hoop,and arms secured to the exterior of the barrel and reaching over thestrain-hoop, skin-hoop and the edge of the shell, to support themembers.

8. Adrunr having extensible snares, means means for moving for securingthe snares at one end, a member to which the snares are attarhcd at theother end, means for adjusting said member longitudii'ially of thesnares to vary the tension thereof, and means for adjusting said membertoward and from the head without varying the tension of said snares.

9. A drum having extensible stretched across the head thereof, means forvarying the tension of snares, and means independent of the first saidmeans for adjusting said snares toward and from thedrumhead withoutvarying the tension of said snares.

snares .10. A drum having snares across the head I thereof, a memberengaging the snares at one end, a member engaging the snares at: the

other end, means for moving one of said members to stretch the snares,and independent one of said members to carry the snares at one endtoward and. from the head.

11. A drum having snares stretched across the head, snare-engagi ngmembers located outside the head for the ends of the snares, and.

means for outwardly displacing one of said members to separate the endsof the snares carried thereby from the. lower head and to muffle thedrum.

12. A drum having snare-engaging members located Within the circle ofthe strainhoop, hinged arms supporting and arching the hoop, andadjusting-screws adapted to vary the positions of said arms to move saidmembers toward and from the plane of the head.

13. A drum having'an arm supported by the lower hoop, asnai'e-engagingmember hinged to said arm, and means for adjusting said member about itspivot relatively. to the arm, the drum having also suitable means forengaging the opposite ends of the snares.

14. A drum having an arm hinged to the strain-hoop and provided with anadjusting device and with a snare-engaging member adustable by saiddevice relatively to said arm,

the drum having also suitable means for engaging the opposite ends ofthe snares.

15-. A drum having an arm supported by the lower hoop and provided witha snare-engaging member lonated at the inner portion of said arm, and anabutment for the outer portion of the arni, said abutment being movableto permit the displabement of the arm and the separation of the snaresfrom the lower head, the drum having also suitable means for engagingthe opposite ends of the snares.

16. A'snare attachment for drums comprisinga bracket adapted forengagementwith the exterior portion of thedrum, an arm'pivoted betweenits ends to said-bracket and bentso as to arch the end of the hoop, asnare-engaging-member on one end of the arm, and an adjusting device onthe other end of said arm to HdJHSi said arm about its pivot.

17. A snare attachment for drums comprising a bracket adapted-forengagement with the Q'XtOllOl' portion of the drum, an arm pivotedbetween its ends to said bracket and bent so as to archthe end of thehoop, a snare-enmounted on saidbracket and carrying a snareengagingmember, means for adjusting said arm relatively to said bracket, andmeans independent of said adjusting means for moving said arm relativelyto said bracket.

19. A drum having snare-engaging members located outside the lower headand within the circle of the lower hoop, one ot' said members havingpins to engage bights in the strings forming the snares, While the othermember is formed as a clamp to engage the end portions of said snares,and arched connections between said members and the lower hoop ofthedrum.

20. A drum having snares stretched across reaere its lower head, asnare-engaging member located outside the lower head and within thecircle of the hoop and formed as a clamp adapted to grasp the snares,the drum also having suitable means for engaging the opposite ends ofthe snares, consequence of which said snares are stretched between saidmom bers.

21. A drum having snares stretched across the head thereof and amutlling device supported upon theeXterior of the barrel and havingprovisions in consequence of which a movement of said device effects amovement of the snares away from the head, substantially as described.

22. A drum having extensible snares stretched across the head thereof, asnare.- supporting member, and a mufiiingdever supported upon theexterior of the drum-barrel and adapted when operated to effect amovement of the said snare-supporting member bodily outward from thehead; I

In testimony whereof Ihave aifixed my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

HARRY A. BOVVER.

Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, E. BATCHELDER.

